Christian Evangelist Stabbed to Dead in Bangladesh

On April 24, evangelist Hridoy Roy was murdered as he returned home from a Christian film presentation in rural Bangladesh. Some organizations claim this is the first martyrdom in the short history of Bangladesh. However, Roy's tragic death is just one of many violent attacks against Christians in recent years.

Hridoy was working for a para-church organization. A spokesman from the mission said a group of at least eight men attacked Hridoy. Entering his house, they tied him to his bed in "crucifixion style" and repeatedly stabbed him to death. Hridoy had been warned several times by neighbors to stop showing the "Jesus Film" and other films on the life of Christ.

On March 2002, similar incident happened to Sylvester Danny Gomes who shows "Jesus film" and other Christian films in deferent churches. Gomes had also warned several times by Islamic terrorist as kidnap his daughter or demand huge amount of money.

Sylvester Danny Gomes, who is a director and webmaster of a only Bangladeshi Christians website called Bangladesh Christian Online and who gathered into web "Jesus Film" many incidents of atrocities and discrimination, had to seek political asylum abroad because of threats against him.

Bangladesh has suffered religious tensions since 1971, when the nation was partitioned from Pakistan. However, tensions have increased dramatically since the election of a fundamentalist Islamic government in October 2001.

The new government is a coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and three other Islamic parties. The third largest party, Jamaat-e-Islami, wants Bangladesh to become an Islamic state. Their youth arm, Islami Chhatra Shibir (CSI), is known for its militancy.